Information on Loughborough

County considers way forward on waste

Posted on 17/07/2007
P. Klein

landfillProposals to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and avoid multi-million pound fines will be considered by Leicestershire County Councils ruling Cabinet this month.

A report by County Council officers suggests that an "energy from waste scheme may be required to deal with rubbish that cannot be recycled.

At the moment, county residents recycle or compost 41 per cent of waste " one of the best rates in the country - leaving 225,000 tonnes of waste per year that goes to landfill. Thats one tonne of waste every 140 seconds in the County.

The County Council wants to to increase the recycling and composting rate to more than 50 per cent, to reduce the amount that goes to landfill.

Unless the Council reduces the amount of waste by 78,000 tonnes per year by 2015, it will face fines of £150 per tonne " which could total millions of pounds per year.

Council officers have now assessed a variety of waste treatment techniques that reduce the amount that is landfilled. They are recommending that the authority pursues the idea of developing an "energy from waste facility by 2015. It could cost around £100 million.

This would involve the burning of non-recyclable waste to create power that can be sold to the National Grid. Emissions would be lower than the latest European standards. Waste heat could potentially be piped to businesses nearby.

Similar schemes are already operating in Hampshire and Kent, where, thanks to modern technology, emissions are strictly controlled. Ash is produced as a by-product, much of which can be used by the construction industry and some landfilled.

The Cabinet is being advised to support this idea and the principle of funding it through the Private Finance Initiative " which means the Council could get up to 50 per cent of the funding through a Government grant.

Brian Page, the Cabinets waste spokesman, said: "Leicestershire is already working hard to recycle and reduce waste " but we must do more to reduce landfilling and protect Council Taxpayers from increased costs.

"An energy from waste scheme looks like a viable and sustainable way of dealing with most of the rubbish that we cannot recycle.

However Friends of the Earths senior waste campaigner Claire Wilton said: "We urgently need to drive waste away from landfill, but not into the arms of incinerator operators. The public wants to recycle, not burn rubbish. The Government must remove the financial incentive to incinerate rubbish and introduce higher national recycling targets." Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to:

  • Remove subsidies it gives incinerators or introduce an incinerator tax
  • Introduce higher national recycling targets of 50% by 2010 and 75% by 2015, backed up by targets for each local authority.

The Cabinet meets to consider the report at 2.30pm on July 24.

Further Information:

The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme

The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme was introduced in the Waste and Emissions Trading Act which became law in 2003 and took effect in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from April 1. The scheme began in Wales on 1 October 2004.

It is designed to help the UK reach its obligation under the EU Landfill Directive to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste landfilled in 2020 to just 35% of waste produced in 1995.

Land filling biodegradable waste has significant negative effects on the environment and human health. Amongst other risks it produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

The total amount of biodegradable municipal waste that is allowed to be landfilled in the UK has been divided up between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Separate regulations to make the scheme work are in place in each nation. The main difference between the four schemes is that trading of allowances between local authorities is permitted only in England and Scotland.

How will it work in England?

Each local authority has been allocated an allowance in tonnes for the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) it can send to landfill. The allocation reduces progressively year-on-year until 2020. Local authorities are allowed to trade their allowances with other authorities if they feel they have more or less allowances than they need. They can also `bank the allowances for future years, or `borrow future allowances for earlier use.  

Local authorities will be fined £150 per tonne if they landfill more than their allocation without buying extra allocations (this is around three times the current cost of landfill). There are extra penalties for breaching allocations in the Landfill Directives `target years of 2010, 2013 and 2020.